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Consumers just don’t know about GMOs

DMI consumer

The NPD Group analyzes consumer behavior across a host of industries.  They conducted a survey of 2,100 primary grocery shoppers across the country to gather consumer attitudes and perceptions of Genetically Modified foods or GMOs.  Darren Seifer is Food and Beverage Analyst for the company, he says they found that when asked: What are GMOs? “One of the biggest responses was, ‘I don’t know.”   Seifer says that indicates there is a need for a lot of education out there.

He thinks a fear of the unknown is what is behind the growing concern about GMOs.  Seifer says while all indications are there is no difference between GMO and non-GMO foods, people may think they are not completely getting what they think they are getting.  So when they see a piece of corn they think this is something that came out of the ground.  But then they hear there may be some test tubes and lab work involved, that gives them some reason to pause.”

The study also found that people were not willing to pay more for non-GMO food.  Seifer thinks that is more the result of the continuing trend in the United States that people have been paying a decreasing amount of their income for food since the 1950s.

Seifer says labeling of products definitely helps people better understand the products and thinks there should be one standardized labeling system in the country.  However, he does agree with those who contend labeling products containing GMOs implies there is a difference with non-GMO foods.

The biggest challenge for the food industry is to educate the consuming public.  Seifer says while traditional advertising helps, there is also a need to interact with consumers via social media, websites, farmers’ markets and such.  Along that line, he says there is a growing interest from consumers to buy locally-grown produce and they are willing to pay more for that.  “More consumers are using fresh produce and fresh meats in their home cooking so as more consumers are getting involved in that type of preparation, more consumers are going to be aware of where these items are coming from and where they are made.”

Listen to Seifer’s comments:

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